Is it acceptable to have chocolate for breakfast? Whoever answered no is wrong and whoever answered yes is invited over for breakfast tomorrow morning. I mean why can’t we have chocolate for breakfast? As long as we balance everything out with some protein and a little fruit, everything will be just fine…
These double chocolate crumble muffins are truly fabulous. A light, moist chocolate muffin filled with dark chocolate chips and topped with a buttery chocolate crumble. They are very chocolatey, but well balanced in sweetness, so these muffins are not your typical overly sweet “are these actually cupcakes” style chocolate muffins that often show up at your grocery stores bakery counter.
Yes, they are really chocolatey. Yes, they are decadent, but also yes, if you are not a fan of overly sweet treats, you will love these muffins.
Let’s get started…
Begin by vigorously whisking 2 large eggs with 1/2 cup of vegetable oil, 2/3 cup of sour cream, 1/3 cup of whole milk or heavy cream and 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract in a large bowl until everything is fully combined.
Add 1/2 cup of granulated sugar and 1/2 cup of brown sugar and whisk until fully incorporated.
Combine 1 2/3 cups of all purpose flour, 1/2 cup of cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon of baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon of salt in a small bowl and add the dry ingredients into the batter.
Mix the batter until the wet and dry ingredients are just combined and then add about a cup of dark chocolate chunks. If you are not a fan of dark chocolate, you could also add milk, semi-sweet or even white chocolate chips or chunks into these cookies.
Fold the chocolate chips into the batter to evenly distribute.
Now that the muffin batter is ready to go, it is time to make a quick chocolate crumble to top these babies with…
In a small bowl, combine 1/2 cup of all purpose flour with 1/3 cup of brown sugar, 1/4 cup of granulated sugar, 3 tablespoons of cocoa powder and a pinch of sugar. Drizzle 4 tablespoons of melted butter over the mixture and use a fork to work the melted butter into the dry ingredients. It may seem that you have added too much butter at first, but keep mixing! As the dry ingredients continue to get worked into the butter, a large crumble will begin to form…
This is the consistency you are looking for in the crumble. You can always break the larger pieces down a bit as you add the crumble to the muffins.
Speaking of the muffins, line a cupcake tin with cupcake liners and use a greased cookie dough scoop to fill each cavity just below full.
This recipe makes 16 full sized muffins or 36 mini muffins. I usually use half of the batter to make full sized muffins and then use the rest to make mini muffins.
Once your muffin batter has been added into the muffin tins, top each muffin with a generous amount of chocolate crumble pressing it down just a bit to ensure that the crumbles attach themselves to the batter. I also love sprinkling just a little bit of demerara or turbinado sugar over the top over each pile of crumble, but this is totally optional. I just like the way it looks and love the occasional crunch of the large sugar crystals… its the little things in life.
Now that the muffins are all put together, it is time to bake them up!
I like to start the full sized muffins in a 425 degree oven for the first 5 minutes to give them a jump start on their rise. After the first 5 minutes, I reduce the temperature to 350 degrees leaving the oven door closed, so the oven temperature can slowly reduce as the muffins continue to bake for an additional 16-18 minutes.
Mini muffins can be baked at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes.
The muffins are fully baked when they feel lightly set in the middle or when a toothpick will come out mostly clean from the center of a muffin. Transfer the baked muffins onto a cooling rack and allow them to cool for 5-10 minutes inside the cupcake tin before transferring them directly onto the cooling rack.
Now you can let them cool fully before digging in, but I prefer to let them cool just long enough that I won’t burn my fingers and then I go for it. These muffins are so good! They have a deliciously light and moist middle with loads of dark chocolate chips inside and that chocolate crumble is just as amazing as it looks.
They store really well in an airtight container and stay soft for a few days at room temperature. I love them both warm with a cup of cold milk and chill in the refrigerator along side a cup of creamy coffee.
There really is no wrong way to enjoy them…
The miniature version of these double chocolate crumble muffins should get special mention. Not only are they adorable, but they are bite sized and super easy to bring along with you while you run errands or to take with your work lunch.
Maybe you don’t need a big full sized muffin, but certainly you could have a little bite sized treat!
The next time you want to bake yourself or your friends up a deliciously chocolatey treat, give these double chocolate crumble muffins a try. You will be so glad that you did!
Double Chocolate Crumble Muffins
Ingredients
Double Chocolate Muffins
- 1 2/3 cups of all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup of natural unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon of baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup of granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup of brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 cup of vegetable oil
- 2/3 cup of sour cream
- 1/3 cup of whole milk or heavy cream
- 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
- 1 cup of dark chocolate chunks
Chocolate Crumble Topping
- 4 tablespoons of butter, melted
- 1/2 cup of all purpose flour
- 1/3 cup of brown sugar
- 1/4 cup of granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons of natural unsweetened cocoa powder
- a pinch of sugar
- demerara or turbinado sugar (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425 degrees
- In a large bowl, whisk 2 large eggs with 1/2 cup of vegetable oil, 2/3 cup of sour cream, 1/3 cup of whole milk or heavy cream and 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract until fully combined
- Add 1/2 cup of granulated sugar and 1/2 cup of brown sugar and whisk until fully incorporated.
- Combine 1 2/3 cups of all purpose flour, 1/2 cup of cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon of baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon of salt in a small bowl and then add to the batter
- Mix until the wet and dry ingredients are just combined
- Fold in 1 cup of dark chocolate chunks and set aside for now
- Make the chocolate crumble by combining 1/2 cup of all purpose flour with 1/3 cup of brown sugar, 1/4 cup of granulated sugar, 3 tablespoons of cocoa powder and a pinch of sugar in a small dish. Drizzle 4 tablespoons of melted butter over the dry ingredients and use a fork to combine until you create a large crumble texture
- Add cupcake liners to a cupcake tin and fill each cavity almost full of batter
- Add a generous amount of chocolate crumble over the batter and gently press down to help the crumble attach to the batter
- Optional: sprinkle with demerara or turbinado sugar
- Bake the muffins for 5 minutes at 425 degrees and then reduce the ovens temperature to 350 degrees leaving the door closed and bake for an additional 16-18 minutes (Bake mini muffins for 10 minutes at 350 degrees)
- Once the muffins feel set in the middle or a toothpick will come out mostly clean from the center of a muffin, carefully transfer the muffins onto a cooling rack
- Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature or chill in the refrigerator